A notorious Louisiana prison was chosen for immigrant detainees to urge self-deportation, Noem says

Officials said 51 detainees were already being housed at Angola. But Gov. Jeff Landry said he expects the building to be filled to capacity, expecting over 400 people to come in ensuing months as President Donald Trump continues his large-scale attempt to remove millions of people suspected of entering the country illegally.

The building holding ICE detainees is not new, but rather refurbished after sitting vacant for years. The rest of Angola, which is made up of many buildings, has remained active. Many of Angola’s 6,300 inmates still work the fields, picking long rows of vegetables by hand as armed guards patrol on horseback.

In addition, the prison is home to more than 50 death row inmates. The most recent execution was in March, using nitrogen gas to deprive the inmate of oxygen, causing death. The state’s electric chair, nicknamed “Gruesome Gertie”, is still on display in the prison’s museum.